Server and robot system including the same

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a robot system including a plurality of robots and a server for communicating with the robots and monitoring and controlling the state of the robots, wherein the robots include different kinds of robots, and the server provides an integrated user interface including information about the different kinds of robots to a client.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a server and a robot system includingthe same, and more particularly to a server capable of controlling aplurality of robots and providing various kinds of services and a robotsystem including the same.

BACKGROUND ART

Robots have been developed for industrial purposes and have taken chargeof a portion of factory automation. In recent years, the number offields in which robots are utilized has increased. As a result, amedical robot and an aerospace robot have been developed. In addition, ahome robot usable at home is being manufactured. Among such robots, arobot capable of autonomously traveling is called a mobile robot.

With an increase in the use of robots, the demand for robots capable ofproviding various kinds of information, entertainment, and services inaddition to repeated performance of simple functions has increased.

As a result, a communication robot disposed in homes, stores, and publicfacilities so as to communicate with people is being developed.

In addition, various kinds of services using a mobile robot that iscapable of autonomously traveling have been proposed. For example, aprior document (Korean Patent Application Publication No.10-2008-0090150, Publication Date: Oct. 8, 2008) proposes a servicerobot capable of providing a service based on the current position whilemoving in a service area, a service system using the service robot, anda method of controlling the service system using the service robot.

There is a necessity for a scheme capable of monitoring and efficientlycontrolling the state of a plurality of robots when in use.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

It is an object of the present invention to provide a server capable ofeffectively administrating and controlling a plurality of robots inorder to provide various kinds of services and a robot system includingthe same.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a low-cost,high-efficiency server capable of minimizing intervention of anadministrator and a robot system including the same.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a servercapable of efficiently providing the optimum service using differentkinds of robots and a robot system including the same.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a servercapable of selecting a combination suitable for the place at which aservice is provided and the kind of the service in order to provide theservice using a minimum number of robots and a robot system includingthe same.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a servercapable of effectively utilizing data acquired through a plurality ofrobots and a robot system including the same.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a serverconnected to an external server in order to provide various kinds ofservices and a robot system including the same.

Technical Solution

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above andother objects can be accomplished by the provision of a server and arobot system including the same that are capable of effectivelyadministrating a plurality of robots in order to provide various kindsof services. In particular, different kinds of robots may be effectivelyadministrated and controlled in order to provide the optimum servicesatisfying the request of a customer.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the aboveand other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a robot systemincluding a plurality of robots and a server for communicating with therobots and monitoring and controlling the state of the robots, whereinthe robots include different kinds of robots, and the server provides anintegrated user interface including information about the differentkinds of robots to a client.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the aboveand other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a serverincluding a control server for communicating with a plurality of robotsand monitoring and controlling the state of the robots, wherein therobots include different kinds of robots, and the server provides anintegrated user interface comprising information about the differentkinds of robots to a client.

Upon receiving data from a linked external server, the server may updatedata of robots related to the received data, among the plurality ofrobots, in a bundle.

In addition, the server may automatically receive data from the linkedexternal server in a predetermined cycle, and may update data of therobots related to the received data in a bundle.

In addition, the server may apply data uploaded in a common unit to allof the robots, and may apply data uploaded in a dedicated unit to robotscorresponding to the dedicated unit in which the data are uploaded. Inthis case, the dedicated unit may include a plurality of dedicated unitsso as to correspond to the kind of robots.

Meanwhile, the control server may provide a control service capable ofmonitoring the state and location of the robots and administratingcontent and task schedules. The control server may include a controlservice server for providing the control service capable of monitoringthe state and location of the robots and administrating the content andtask schedules and an administrator application server capable ofadministrating an application related to the robots.

In addition, the server may further include a device administrationserver for relaying and administrating data related to the robots and amap server for providing map data.

Meanwhile, the integrated user interface may include entire robot statusinformation and robot-kind-based state information classified dependingon the kind of robots. In this case, the robot-kind-based stateinformation may include a robot kind title item, a current state titleitem, and robot number information corresponding to the current statetitle item, and the current state title item and the robot numberinformation may be displayed in different colors depending on the statethereof.

In addition, the integrated user interface may further include locationstatus information, in which the current locations of robots aredisplayed on a map, and individual robot state information.

Meanwhile, the server may provide entire statistical data based on datagathered from all robots, kind-based statistical data based on datagathered from the same kind of robots, and individual statistical databased on data received from individual robots.

In addition, the server may provide function- or service-basedstatistical data based on data gathered from robots capable ofperforming predetermined functions or services.

Advantageous Effects

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention,it is possible to provide various kinds of services using a plurality ofrobots, thereby improving use convenience.

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the presentinvention, it is possible to realize a low-cost, high-efficiencycooperation system between robots capable of minimizing intervention ofan administrator.

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the presentinvention, it is possible to efficiently provide the optimum serviceusing different kinds of robots.

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the presentinvention, it is possible to select a combination suitable for the placeat which a service is provided and the kind of the service in order toprovide the service using a minimum number of robots.

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the presentinvention, it is possible to effectively administrate a plurality ofrobots and to utilize data acquired through the robots.

In addition, according to at least one of the embodiments of the presentinvention, it is possible to realize a robot system connected to anexternal server in order to provide various kinds of services.

Various other effects of the present invention will be directly orsuggestively disclosed in the following detailed description of theinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing the construction of a robot system according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2a to 2d are reference views illustrating a robot service deliveryplatform included in the robot system according to the embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a reference view illustrating learning using data acquired bya robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 a to 6 d are views exemplarily showing robotsaccording to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a simple internal block diagram of a robotaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a reference view illustrating a robot system including aserver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 9 to 15 are reference views illustrating user interface screens ofthe robot system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, the presentinvention may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

Meanwhile, in the following description, with respect to constituentelements used in the following description, the suffixes “module” and“unit” are used or combined with each other only in consideration ofease in the preparation of the specification, and do not have orindicate mutually different meanings. Accordingly, the suffixes “module”and “unit” may be used interchangeably.

It will be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,” etc.,may be used herein to describe various components, these componentsshould not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used todistinguish one component from another component.

FIG. 1 is a view showing the construction of a robot system according toan embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the robot system 1 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention may include one or more robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c1, 100 c 2, and 100 c 3 in order to provide services at various places,such as an airport, a hotel, a mart, a clothing store, a logisticscenter, and a hospital. For example, the robot system 1 may include atleast one of a guide robot 100 a for providing information about aspecific place, article, and service, a home robot 100 b for interactingwith a user at home and communicating with another robot or electronicdevice based on user input, delivery robots 100 c 1, 100 c 2, and 100 c3 for delivering specific articles, or a cleaning robot 100 d forperforming cleaning while autonomously traveling.

Preferably, the robot system 1 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention includes a plurality of robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2,100 c 3, and 100 d and a server 10 for administrating and controllingthe robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d.

The server 10 may remotely monitor and control the state of the robots100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d, and the robot system1 may provide more effective services using the robots 100 a, 100 b, 100c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d.

More preferably, the robot system 1 includes various kinds of robots 100a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d. Consequently, it ispossible to provide various kinds of services through the respectiverobots and to provide more various and convenient services throughcooperation between the robots.

The robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d and theserver 10 may include a communication means (or communicationinterfaces) (not shown) that supports one or more communicationprotocols in order to communicate with each other. In addition, therobots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d and the server10 may communicate with a PC, a mobile terminal, or another externalserver.

For example, the robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100d and the server 10 may communicate with each other using a messagequeuing telemetry transport (MQTT) scheme.

Alternatively, the robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and100 d and the server 10 may communicate with each other using ahypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) scheme.

In addition, the robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100d and the server 10 may communicate with a PC, a mobile terminal, oranother external server using the HTTP or MQTT scheme.

Depending on circumstances, the robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2,100 c 3, and 100 d and the server 10 may support two or morecommunication protocols, and may use the optimum communication protocoldepending on the kind of communication data or the kind of a deviceparticipating in communication.

The server 10 may be realized as a cloud server, whereby a user may usedata stored in the server 10 and a function or service provided by theserver 10 using any of various devices, such as a PC or a mobileterminal, which is connected to the server. The cloud server 10 may beoperatively connected to the robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100c 3, and 100 d in order to monitor and control the robots 100 a, 100 b,100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d and to remotely provide varioussolutions and content.

The user may retrieve or control information about the robots 100 a, 100b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d in the robot system using the PCor the mobile terminal.

In this specification, the “user” is a person who uses a service throughat least one robot, and may include an individual customer who purchasesor borrows a robot in order to use the robot at home, a manager or astaff member of a company who provides services to the staff orcustomers using a robot, and customers who use services provided by thecompany. Consequently, the “user” may include an individual customer(business to consumer; B2C) and a business customer (business tobusiness; B2B).

The user may monitor the state and location of the robots 100 a, 100 b,100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d in the robot system and mayadministrate content and task schedules using the PC or the mobileterminal.

Meanwhile, the server 10 may store and administrate information receivedfrom the robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d andother devices.

The server 10 may be a server that is provided by a manufacturingcompany of the robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 din the robot system and may administrate content and task schedules or acompany to which the manufacturing company entrusts services.

Meanwhile, the system according to the present invention may beoperatively connected to two or more servers.

For example, the server 10 may communicate with external cloud servers20, such as E1 and E2, and with third parties 30 providing content andservices, such as T1, T2, and T3. Consequently, the server 10 may beoperatively connected to the external cloud servers 20 and with thirdparties 30 in order to provide various kinds of services.

The server 10 may be a control server for administrating and controllingthe robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d.

The server 10 may simultaneously or individually control the robots 100a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, 100 c 3, and 100 d. In addition, the server10 may group at least some of the robots 100 a, 100 b, 100 c 1, 100 c 2,100 c 3, and 100 d in order to perform group-based control.

Meanwhile, the server 10 may be configured as a plurality of servers, towhich information and functions are distributed, or as a singleintegrated server.

Since the server 10 is configured as a plurality of servers, to whichinformation and functions are distributed, or as a single integratedserver in order to administrate all services using the robots, theserver may be called a robot service delivery platform (RSDP).

FIGS. 2a to 2d are reference views illustrating a robot service deliveryplatform included in the robot system according to the embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2a exemplarily shows a communication architecture of a robotservice delivery platform according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 2a , the robot service delivery platform 10 mayinclude one or more servers 11 and 12 in order to administrate andcontrol robots 100, such as the guide robot 100 a or the cleaning robot100 d.

The robot service delivery platform 10 may include a control server 11for communicating with a client 40 through a web browser 41 or anapplication 42 in a mobile terminal and administrating and controllingthe robots 100 and a device administration server 12 for relaying andadministrating data related to the robot 100.

The control server 11 may include a control/service server 11 a forproviding a control service capable of monitoring the state and locationof the robots 100 and administrating content and task schedules based onuser input received from the client 40 and an administrator applicationserver 11 b that a control administrator is capable of accessing throughthe web browser 41.

The control/service server 11 a may include a database, and may respondto a service request from the client 40, such as robot administration,control, firmware over the air (FOTA) upgrade, and location inquiry.

The control administrator may access the administrator applicationserver 11 b under the authority of the administrator, and theadministrator application server may administrate functions related tothe robot, applications, and content.

The device administration server 12 may function as a proxy server, andstore metadata related to original data, and may perform a data backupfunction utilizing a snapshot indicating the state of a storage device.

The device administration server 12 may include a storage for storingvarious kinds of data and a common server for communicating with thecontrol/service server 11 a. The common server may store various kindsof data in the storage, may retrieve data from the storage, and mayrespond to a service request from the control/service server 11 a, suchas robot administration, control, firmware over the air, and locationinquiry.

In addition, the robots 100 may download map data and firmware datastored in the storage.

Since the control server 11 and the device administration server 12 areseparately configured, it is not necessary to retransmit data afterstoring the data in the storage, where there is an advantage in terms ofthe processing speed and time and effective administration is easilyachieved in terms of security.

Meanwhile, the robot service delivery platform 10 is a set of serversthat provide services related to the robot, and may mean all componentsexcluding the client 40 and the robots 100 in FIG. 2 a.

For example, the robot service delivery platform 10 may further includea user administration server 13 for administrating user accounts. Theuser administration server 13 may administrate user authentication,registration, and withdrawal.

In some embodiments, the robot service delivery platform 10 may furtherinclude a map server 14 for providing map data and data based ongeographical information.

The map data received by the map server 14 may be stored in the controlserver 11 and/or the device administration server 12, and the map datain the map server 14 may be downloaded by the robots 100. Alternatively,the map data may be transmitted from the map server 14 to the robots 100according to a request from the control server 11 and/or the deviceadministration server 12.

The robots 100 and the servers 11 and 12 may include a communicationmeans (not shown) that support one or more communication protocols inorder to communicate with each other.

Referring to FIG. 2a , the robots 100 and the servers 11 and 12 maycommunicate with each other using the MQTT scheme. The MQTT scheme is ascheme in which a message is transmitted and received through a broker,and is advantageous in terms of low power and speed. Meanwhile, in thecase in which the robot service delivery platform 10 uses the MQTTscheme, the broker may be constructed in the device administrationserver 12.

In addition, the robots 100 and the servers 11 and 12 may support two ormore communication protocols, and may use the optimum communicationprotocol depending on the kind of communication data or the kind of adevice participating in communication. FIG. 2a exemplarily shows acommunication path using the MQTT scheme and a communication path usingthe HTML scheme.

Meanwhile, the servers 11 and 12 and the robots 100 may communicate witheach other using the MQTT scheme irrespective of the kind of the robots.

The robots 100 may transmit the current state thereof to the servers 11and 12 through an MQTT session, and may receive remote control commandsfrom the servers 11 and 12. For MQTT connection, a digital certificateof authentication, such as a personal key (issued for SCR generation),an X.509 certificate of authentication received at the time of robotregistration, or a certificate of device administration serverauthentication, or may other authentication schemes may be used.

In FIG. 2a , the servers 11, 12, 13, and 14 are classified based on thefunctions thereof. However, the present invention is not limitedthereto. Two or more functions may be performed by a single server, anda single function may be performed by two or more servers.

FIG. 2b exemplarily shows a block diagram of the robot service deliveryplatform according to the embodiment of the present invention, andexemplarily shows upper-level applications of a robot control platformrelated to robot control.

Referring to FIG. 2b , the robot control platform 2 may include a userinterface 3 and functions/services 4 provided by the control/serviceserver 11 a.

The robot control platform 2 may provide a web site-based controladministrator user interface 3 a and an application-based user interface3 b.

The client 40 may use the user interface 3 b, provided by the robotcontrol platform 2, through their own device.

FIGS. 2c and 2d exemplarily show a user interface provided by the robotservice delivery platform 10 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2c shows a monitoring screen 210 related to a plurality of guiderobots 100 a.

Referring to FIG. 2c , the user interface screen 210 provided by therobot service delivery platform 10 may include state information 211 ofthe robots and location information 212 a, 212 b, and 212 c of therobots.

The state information 211 may indicate the current state of the robots,such as guiding, waiting, or charging.

The location information 212 a, 212 b, and 212 c may indicate thecurrent location of the robots on a map screen. In some embodiments, thelocation information 212 a, 212 b, and 212 c may be displayed usingdifferent shapes and colors depending on the state of the robots inorder to intuitively provide much more information.

The user may monitor the operation mode of the robots and the currentlocation of the robots in real time through the user interface screen210.

FIG. 2d shows monitoring screens relates to an individual guide robot100 a.

Referring to FIG. 2d , when the individual guide robot 100 a isselected, a user interface screen 220 including history information 221for a predetermined period of time may be provided.

The user interface screen 220 may include information about the currentlocation of the selected individual guide robot 100 a.

In addition, the user interface screen 220 may include notificationinformation 222 about the individual guide robot 100 a, such as theresidual battery quantity and movement thereof.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 2b , the control/service server 11 a mayinclude common units 4 a and 4 b including functions and services thatare commonly applied to the robots and a dedicated unit 4 c includingspecialized functions related to at least some of the robots.

In some embodiments, the common units 4 a and 4 b may be divided intobasic services 4 a and common functions 4 b.

The common units 4 a and 4 b may include a state monitoring servicecapable of checking the state of the robots, a diagnostic servicecapable of diagnosing the state of the robots, a remote control servicecapable of remotely controlling the robots, a robot location trackingservice capable of tracking the location of the robots, a scheduleadministration service capable of assigning, checking, and modifyingtasks of the robots, and a statistics/report service capable of checkingvarious kinds of statistical data and analysis reports.

In addition, the common units 4 a and 4 b may include a user rolladministration function of administrating the authority of a robotauthentication function user, an operation history administrationfunction, a robot administration function, a firmware administrationfunction, a push function related to a push notification, a robot groupadministration function capable of setting and administrating groups ofrobots, a map administration function capable of checking andadministrating map data and version information, and an officialannouncement administration function.

The dedicated unit 4 c may include specialized functions considering theplaces at which the robots are operated, the kind of services, and therequests of customers. The dedicated unit 4 c may mainly includespecialized functions for B2B customers. For example, in the case of thecleaning robot 100 d, the dedicated unit 4 c may include a cleaning areasetting function, a site-based state monitoring function, a cleaningschedule setting function, and a cleaning history inquiry function.

Meanwhile, the specialized functions provided by the dedicated unit 4 cmay be based on functions and services that are commonly applied. Forexample, the specialized functions may be configured by modifying thebasic services 4 a or adding predetermined services to the basicservices 4 a. Alternatively, the specialized functions may be configuredby modifying some of the common functions 4 b.

In this case, the basic services or the common functions correspondingto the specialized functions provided by the dedicated unit 4 c may beremoved or inactivated.

FIG. 3 is a reference view illustrating learning using data acquired bya robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, product data acquired by the operation of apredetermined device, such as a robot 100, may be transmitted to theserver 10.

For example, the robot 100 may transmit space-, object-, andusage-related data to the server 10.

Here, the space- and object-related data may be recognition-related dataof the space and object recognized by the robot 100 or image data aboutthe space and object acquired by an image acquisition unit 120 (see FIG.7).

In some embodiments, the robot 100 and the server 10 may include asoftware- or hardware-type artificial neural network (ANN) trained torecognize at least one of the attributes of users, the attributes ofspeeches, the attributes of spaces, or the attributes of objects, suchas obstacles.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the robot 100 and the server10 may include a deep neural network (DNN) trained using deep learning,such as a convolutional neural network (CNN), a recurrent neural network(RNN), or a deep belief network (DBN). For example, the deep neuralnetwork (DNN), such as the convolutional neural network (CNN), may beprovided in a controller 140 (see FIG. 7) of the robot 100.

The server 10 may train the deep neural network (DNN) based on the datareceived from the robot 100 and data input by a user, and may transmitthe updated data of the deep neural network (DNN) to the robot 100.Consequently, the deep neural network (DNN) included in the robot 100may be updated.

In addition, the usage-related data, which are data acquired as theresult of using a predetermined product, for example, the robot 100, mayinclude usage history data and sensing data acquired by a sensor unit170 (see FIG. 7).

The trained deep neural network (DNN) may receive input data forrecognition, may recognize the attributes of a person, an object, and aspace included in the input data, and may output the result.

In addition, the trained deep neural network (DNN) may receive inputdata for recognition, and may analyze and train usage-related data ofthe robot 100 in order to recognize the usage pattern and the usageenvironment.

Meanwhile, the space-, object-, and usage-related data may betransmitted to the server 10 through a communication unit 190 (see FIG.7).

The server 10 may train the deep neural network (DNN) based on thereceived data, and may transmit the updated data of the deep neuralnetwork (DNN) to the robot 100 such that the robot is updated.

Consequently, a user experience UX in which the robot 100 becomessmarter and evolves as the result of repetitive use may be provided.

The robot 100 and the server 10 may use external information. Forexample, the server 10 may synthetically use external informationacquired from other service servers 20 and 30 connected thereto in orderto provide an excellent user experience.

The server 10 may receive a speech input signal from a user in order toperform speech recognition. To this end, the server 10 may include aspeech recognition module, and the speech recognition module may includean artificial neural network trained to perform speech recognition withrespect to input data and to output the result of speech recognition.

In some embodiments, the server 10 may include a speech recognitionserver for speech recognition. In addition, the speech recognitionserver may include a plurality of servers for performing assigned tasksof the speech recognition. For example, the speech recognition servermay include automatic speech recognition (ASR) server for receivingspeech data and converting the received speech data into text data and anatural language processing (NLP) server for receiving the text datafrom the automatic speech recognition server and analyzing the receivedtext data in order to determine a speed command. Depending oncircumstances, the speech recognition server may further include atext-to-speech (TTS) server for converting the text speech recognitionresult output by the natural language processing server into speech dataand transmitting the speech data to another server or to another device.

According to the present invention, user speech may be used as an inputfor controlling the robot 100, since the robot 100 and/or the server 10are capable of performing speech recognition.

In addition, according to the present invention, the robot 100 mayactively provide information or output speech for recommending afunction or a service first, whereby it is possible to provide morevarious and positive control functions to the user.

FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 a to 6 d are views exemplarily showing robotsaccording to embodiments of the present invention. The robots 100 may bedisposed or may travel in specific spaces in order to perform giventasks.

FIG. 4 exemplarily shows mobile robots mainly used in public places. Amobile robot is a robot that autonomously moves using wheels.Consequently, the mobile robot may be a guide robot, a cleaning robot,an entertain robot, a home-help robot, or a guard robot. However, thepresent invention is not limited at to the kind of the mobile robot.

FIG. 4 shows a guide robot 100 a and a cleaning robot 100 d.

The guide robot 100 a may include a display 110 a in order to display apredetermined image, such as a user interface screen.

In addition, the guide robot 100 a may display a user interface (UI)screen including events, advertisements, and guide information on thedisplay 110 a. The display 110 a may be configured as a touchscreen soas to be used as an input means.

In addition, the guide robot 100 a may receive user input, such as touchinput or speech input, and may display information about an object or aplace corresponding to the user input on the display 110 a.

In some embodiments, the guide robot 100 a may be provided with ascanner capable of recognizing a ticket, an airline ticket, a barcode, aQR code, etc. for guide.

In addition, the guide robot 100 a may provide an escort service ofguiding a user to a specific destination while moving to the specificdestination in response to a user request.

The cleaning robot 100 d may include a cleaning tool 135 d, such as abrush, in order to clean a specific space while autonomously moving.

The mobile robots 100 a and 100 d may perform given tasks whiletraveling in specific spaces. The mobile robots 100 a and 100 d mayperform autonomous traveling, in which the robots move while generatingpaths to specific destinations, or following traveling, in which therobots follow people or other robots. In order to prevent the occurrenceof a safety-related accident, the mobile robots 100 a and 100 d maytravel while avoiding obstacles sensed based on image data acquired bythe image acquisition unit 120 or sensing data acquired by the sensorunit 170 during the movement thereof.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the external appearance of a home robotaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the home robot 100 b includes main bodies 111 b and112 b, which define the external appearance thereof and in which variouscomponents are received.

The main bodies 111 b and 112 b may include a body 111 b, which definesa space for receiving various components constituting the home robot 100b, and a support unit 112 b disposed at the lower side of the body 111 bfor supporting the body 111 b.

In addition, the home robot 100 b may include a head 110 b disposed atthe upper side of the main bodies 111 b and 112 b. A display 182 fordisplaying an image may be disposed on the front surface of the head 110b.

In this specification, the forward direction may be a positive y-axisdirection, the upward-downward direction may be a z-axis direction, andthe leftward-rightward direction may be an x-axis direction.

The head 110 b may be rotated about the x axis within a predeterminedangle range.

When viewed from the front, therefore, the head 110 b may nod in theupward-downward direction as if a human nodded in the upward-downwarddirection. For example, the head 110 b may perform a rotation and returnwithin a predetermined range once or more as if a human nodded in theupward-downward direction.

Meanwhile, in some embodiments, at least a portion of the front surfaceof the head 100 b, on which the display 182, which may correspond to theface of the human, is disposed, may be configured to nod.

In this specification, therefore, an embodiment in which the entire head110 b is moved in the upward-downward direction will be described.Unless described particularly, however, the operation in which the head110 b nods in the upward-downward direction may be replaced by theoperation in which at least a portion of the front surface of the head,on which the display 182 is disposed, nods in the upward-downwarddirection.

The body 111 b may be configured to be rotatable in theleftward-rightward direction. That is, the body 111 b may be configuredto be rotatable 360 degrees about the z axis.

Also, in some embodiments, the body 111 b may also be configured to berotatable about the x axis within a predetermined angle range, wherebythe body may move as if the body nodded in the upward-downwarddirection. In this case, as the body 111 b rotates in theupward-downward direction, the head 110 b may also be rotated about theaxis about which the body 111 b is rotated.

In this specification, therefore, the operation in which the head 110 bnods in the upward-downward direction may include both the case in whichthe head 110 b is rotated about a predetermined axis in theupward-downward direction when viewed from front and the case in which,as the body 111 b nods in the upward-downward direction, the head 110 bconnected to the body 111 b is also rotated and thus nods.

Meanwhile, the home robot 100 b may include an image acquisition unit120 b for capturing an image of the circumference of the main bodies 111b and 112 b, an image of at least a predetermined range from the frontof the main bodies 111 b and 112 b.

The image acquisition unit 120 b, which captures an image of thecircumference of the main bodies 111 b and 112 b and an externalenvironment, may include a camera module. A plurality of cameras may beprovided at various positions in order to improve capture efficiency.Preferably, the image acquisition unit 120 b may include a front cameraprovided at the front surface of the head 110 b for capturing an imageof the front of the main bodies 111 b and 112 b.

In addition, the home robot 100 b may include a speech input unit 125 bfor receiving user speech input.

The speech input unit 125 b may include or may be connected to aprocessing unit for converting analog sound into digital data such thata user speech input signal can be recognized by the server 10 or thecontroller 140.

The speech input unit 125 b may include a plurality of microphones inorder to improve accuracy in receiving user speech input and todetermine the location of a user.

For example, the speech input unit 125 b may include at least twomicrophones.

The microphones (MIC) may be disposed at different positions so as to bespaced apart from each other, and may acquire and convert an externalaudio signal including a speech signal into an electrical signal.

Meanwhile, at least two microphones, which are input devices, arerequired to estimate a sound source from which sound is generated andthe orientation of a user. As the physical distance between themicrophones increases, resolution (angle) in detecting the directionincreases. In some embodiments, two microphones may be disposed at thehead 110 b. In addition, two microphones may be further disposed at therear surface of the head 110 b, whereby it is possible to determine thelocation of the user in a three-dimensional space.

In addition, sound output units 181 b may be disposed at the left andright surfaces of the head 110 b in order to output predeterminedinformation as sound.

Meanwhile, the external appearance and structure of the robotexemplarily shown in FIG. 5 are illustrative, and the present inventionis not limited thereto. For example, the entire robot 110 may tilt orswing in a specific direction, unlike the rotational direction of therobot 100 exemplarily shown in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 6a to 6d exemplarily show delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2,and 100 c 3 capable of delivering predetermined articles.

Referring to the figures, the delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2,and 100 c 3 may move in an autonomous traveling mode or in a followingtraveling mode, and each of the delivery robots may move to apredetermined place while carrying a load, an article, or a carrier C.Depending on circumstances, each of the delivery robots may also providean escort service of guiding a user to a specific place.

Meanwhile, the delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, and 100 c 3 mayautonomously travel at specific places in order to guide people tospecific positions or to deliver loads, such as baggage.

In addition, the delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, and 100 c 3may follow users while maintaining a predetermined distance from theusers.

In some embodiments, each of the delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c2, and 100 c 3 may include a weight sensor for sensing the weight of aload to be delivered, and may inform the user of the weight of the loadsensed by the weight sensor.

A modular design may be applied to each of the delivery robots 100 c,100 c 1, 100 c 2, and 100 c 3 in order to provide services optimizeddepending on use environment and purpose.

For example, the basic platform 100 c may include a traveling module 160c, which takes charge of traveling and includes wheels and a motor, anda UI module 180 c, which takes charge of interaction with a user andincludes a display, a microphone, and a speaker.

Referring to the figures, the traveling module 160 c may include one ormore openings OP1, OP2, and OP3.

The first opening OP1 is formed in the traveling module 160 c such thata front lidar (not shown) is operable, and may extend from the front tothe side of the outer circumferential surface of the traveling module160 c.

The front lidar may be disposed in the traveling module 160 c so as toface the first opening OP1. Consequently, the front lidar may emit alaser through the first opening OP1.

The second opening OP2 is formed in the traveling module 160 c such thata rear lidar (not shown) is operable, and may extend from the rear tothe side of the outer circumferential surface of the traveling module160 c.

The rear lidar may be disposed in the traveling module 160 c so as toface the second opening OP2. Consequently, the rear lidar may emit alaser through the second opening OP2.

The third opening OP3 is formed in the traveling module 160 c such thata sensor disposed in the traveling module, such as a cliff sensor forsensing whether a cliff is present on a floor within a traveling area,is operable.

Meanwhile, a sensor may be disposed on the outer surface of thetraveling module 160 c. An obstacle sensor, such as an ultrasonic sensor171 c, for sensing an obstacle may be disposed on the outer surface ofthe traveling module 160 c.

For example, the ultrasonic sensor 171 c may be a sensor for measuringthe distance between an obstacle and each of the delivery robots 100 c,100 c 1, 100 c 2, and 100 c 3 using an ultrasonic signal. The ultrasonicsensor 171 c may sense an obstacle that is near each of the deliveryrobots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, and 100 c 3.

In an example, a plurality of ultrasonic sensors 171 c may be providedin order to sense obstacles that are near each of the delivery robots100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, and 100 c 3 in all directions. The ultrasonicsensors 171 c may be located along the circumference of the travelingmodule 160 c so as to be spaced apart from each other.

In some embodiments, the UI module 180 c may include two displays 182 aand 182 b, and at least one of the two displays 182 a and 182 b may beconfigured as a touchscreen so as to be used as an input means.

In addition, the UI module 180 c may further include the camera of theimage acquisition unit 120. The camera may be disposed on the frontsurface of the UI module 180 c in order to acquire image data of apredetermined range from the front of the UI module 180 c.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the UI module 180 c may beconfigured so as to be rotatable. For example, the UI module 180 c mayinclude a head unit 180 ca rotatable in the leftward-rightward directionand a body unit 180 cb for supporting the head unit 180 ca.

The head unit 180 ca may be rotated based on the operation mode and thecurrent state of each of the delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2,and 100 c 3.

In addition, the camera may be disposed at the head unit 180 ca in orderto acquire image data of a predetermined range in the direction in whichthe head 180 a is oriented.

For example, in the following traveling mode, in which each of thedelivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, and 100 c 3 follows a user, thehead unit 180 ca may be rotated so as to face forwards. In addition, inthe guide mode, in which each of the delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100c 2, and 100 c 3 provides an escort service of guiding a user to apredetermined destination while moving ahead of the user, the head unit180 ca may be rotated so as to face rearwards.

In addition, the head unit 180 ca may be rotated so as to face a useridentified by the camera.

The porter robot 100 c 1 may further include a delivery service module160 c 1 for receiving a load in addition to the components of the basicplatform 100 c. In some embodiments, the porter robot 100 c 1 may beprovided with a scanner capable of recognizing a ticket, an airlineticket, a barcode, a QR code, etc. for guide.

The serving robot 100 c 2 may further include a serving service module160 c 2 for receiving serving articles in addition to the components ofthe basic platform 100 c. For example, serving articles in a hotel maybe towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bathroom supplies, bedclothes,drinks, foods, room services, or other small electronic devices. Theserving service module 160 c 2 may be provided with a space forreceiving serving articles in order to stably deliver the servingarticles. In addition, the serving service module 160 c 2 may beprovided with a door for opening and closing the space for receiving theserving articles, and the door may be manually and/or automaticallyopened and closed.

The cart robot 100 c 3 may further include a shopping cart servicemodule 160 c 3 for receiving customer's shopping articles in addition tothe components of the basic platform 100 c. The shopping cart servicemodule 160 c 3 may be provided with a scanner capable of recognizing abarcode, a QR code, etc. of each shopping article.

Each of the service modules 160 c 1, 160 c 2, and 160 c 3 may bemechanically coupled to the traveling module 160 c and/or the UI module180 c. In addition, each of the service modules 160 c 1, 160 c 2, and160 c 3 may be electrically coupled to the traveling module 160 c and/orthe UI module 180 in order to transmit and receive a signal.Consequently, cooperative operation is achieved.

To this end, each of the delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, and100 c 3 may include a coupling unit 400 c for coupling the travelingmodule 160 c and/or the UI module 180 to a corresponding one of theservice modules 160 c 1, 160 c 2, and 160 c 3.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a simple internal block diagram of a robotaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the robot 100 according to the embodiment of thepresent invention may include a controller 140 for controlling theoverall operation of the robot 100, a storage unit 130 for storingvarious kinds of data, and a communication unit 190 for transmitting andreceiving data to and from another device, such as the server 10.

The controller 140 may control the storage unit 130, the communicationunit 190, a driving unit 160, a sensor unit 170, and an output unit 180in the robot 100, whereby the controller may control the overalloperation of the robot 100.

The storage unit 130, which stores various kinds of informationnecessary to control the robot 100, may include a volatile ornonvolatile recording medium. Examples of the recording medium, whichstores data readable by a microprocessor, may include a hard disk drive(HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), a silicon disk drive (SDD), a ROM, aRAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, and an optical datastorage device.

Meanwhile, the controller 140 may perform control such that theoperation state of the robot 100 or user input is transmitted to theserver 10 through the communication unit 190.

The communication unit 190 may include at least one communicationmodule, through which the robot 100 may be connected to the Internet orto a predetermined network and may communicate with another device.

In addition, the communication unit 190 may be connected to acommunication module provided in the server 10 in order to processtransmission and reception of data between the robot 100 and the server10.

The robot 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention mayfurther include a speech input unit 125 for receiving user speech inputthrough a microphone.

The speech input unit 125 may include or may be connected to aprocessing unit for converting analog sound into digital data such thata user speech input signal can be recognized by the controller 140 orthe server 10.

Meanwhile, the storage unit 130 may store data for speech recognition,and the controller 140 may process the user speech input signal receivedthrough the speech input unit 125, and may perform a speech recognitionprocess.

Meanwhile, the speech recognition process may be performed by the server10, not by the robot 100. In this case, the controller 140 may controlthe communication unit 190 such that the user speech input signal istransmitted to the server 10.

Alternatively, simple speech recognition may be performed by the robot100, and high-dimensional speech recognition, such as natural languageprocessing, may be performed by the server 10.

For example, in the case in which speech input including a predeterminedkeyword is received, the robot 100 may perform the operationcorresponding to the keyword, the speech input excluding the keyword maybe performed through the server 10. Alternatively, the robot 100 mayperform merely wake-up word recognition for activating a speechrecognition mode, and subsequent speech recognition of the user speechinput may be performed through the server 10.

Meanwhile, the controller 140 may perform control such that the robot100 performs a predetermined operation based on the result of speechrecognition.

Meanwhile, the robot 100 may include an output unit 180 in order todisplay predetermined information in the form of an image or to outputthe predetermined information in the form of sound.

The output unit 180 may include a display 182 for displaying informationcorresponding to user command input, processing result corresponding tothe user command input, the operation mode, the operation state, and theerror state in the form of an image. In some embodiments, the robot 100may include a plurality of displays 182.

In some embodiments, at least some of the displays 182 may be connectedto a touchpad in a layered structure so as to constitute a touchscreen.In this case, the display 182 constituting the touchscreen may also beused as an input device for allowing a user to input information bytouch, in addition to an output device.

In addition, the output unit 180 may further include a sound output unit180 for outputting an audio signal. The sound output unit 180 may outputan alarm sound, a notification message about the operation mode, theoperation state, and the error state, information corresponding to usercommand input, and a processing result corresponding to the user commandinput in the form of sound under the control of the controller 140. Thesound output unit 180 may convert an electrical signal from thecontroller 140 into an audio signal, and may output the audio signal. Tothis end, a speaker may be provided.

In some embodiments, the robot 100 may further include an imageacquisition unit 120 for capturing an image of a predetermined range.

The image acquisition unit 120, which captures an image of the peripheryof the robot 100, an external environment, etc., may include a cameramodule. For capture efficiency, a plurality of cameras may be installedat predetermined positions.

The image acquisition unit 120 may capture an image for userrecognition. The controller 140 may determine an external situation ormay recognize a user (a target to be guided) based on the image capturedby the image acquisition unit 120.

Also, in the case in which the robot 100 is a mobile robot, i.e. one ofthe guide robot 100 a, the delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, and100 c 3, and the cleaning robot 100 d, the controller 140 may performcontrol such that the robot 100 travels based on the image captured bythe image acquisition unit 120.

Meanwhile, the image captured by the image acquisition unit 120 may bestored in the storage unit 130.

In the case in which the robot 100 is a mobile robot, i.e. one of theguide robot 100 a, the delivery robots 100 c, 100 c 1, 100 c 2, and 100c 3, and the cleaning robot 100 d, the robot 100 may further include adriving unit 160 for movement. The driving unit 160 may move the mainbodies under the control of the controller 140.

The driving unit 160 may include at least one driving wheel (not shown)for moving the main bodies of the robot 100. The driving unit 160 mayinclude a driving motor (not shown) connected to the driving wheel forrotating the driving wheel. Driving wheels may be provided at left andright sides of the main bodies, and will hereinafter be referred to as aleft wheel and a right wheel.

The left wheel and the right wheel may be driven by a single drivingmotor. If necessary, however, a left wheel driving motor for driving theleft wheel and the right wheel driving motor for driving the right wheelmay be individually provided. The direction in which the main bodytravels may be changed to the left or to the right based on thedifference in the rotational speed between the left wheel and the rightwheel.

An immobile robot 100, such as the home robot 100 b, may include adriving unit 160 for performing a predetermined action, as describedwith reference to FIG. 5.

In this case, the driving unit 160 may include a plurality of drivingmotors (not shown) for rotating and/or moving the body 111 b and thehead 110 b.

Meanwhile, the robot 100 may include a sensor unit 170 including sensorsfor sensing various kinds of data related to the operation and state ofthe robot 100.

The sensor unit 170 may further include an operation sensor for sensingthe operation of the robot 100 and outputting operation information. Forexample, a gyro sensor, a wheel sensor, or an acceleration sensor may beused as the operation sensor.

The sensor unit 170 may include an obstacle sensor for sensing anobstacle. The obstacle sensor may include an infrared sensor, anultrasonic sensor, an RF sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, a positionsensitive device (PSD) sensor, a cliff sensor for sensing whether acliff is present on a floor within a traveling area, and a lidar (lightdetection and ranging).

Meanwhile, the obstacle sensor senses an object, particularly anobstacle, present in the direction in which the mobile robot 100 travels(moves), and transmits information about the obstacle to the controller140. At this time, the controller 140 may control the motion of therobot 100 depending on the position of the sensed obstacle.

FIG. 8 is a reference view illustrating a robot system including aserver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows an example of data transmitted and received between aserver 10, robots 100, a client 40, and a linkage server 15 in the robotsystem including a server according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Although not described separately, the robot system mayequally include the features of the robot system described withreference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

Referring to FIG. 8, the robot system according to the embodiment of thepresent invention may include a plurality of robots 100 and a server 10that communicates with the robots 100 and monitors and controls thestate of the robots 100.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7, the robot system 1according to the embodiment of the present invention may include atleast one of a guide robot 100 a, a home robot 100 b, delivery robots100 c, or a cleaning robot 100 d.

More preferably, the robots 100 include different kinds of robots. Thatis, the robot system according to the embodiment of the presentinvention may include two or more kinds of robots.

For example, the robot system 1 according to the embodiment of thepresent invention may include two or more kinds of robots selected fromamong a guide robot 100 a, a home robot 100 b, a porter robot 100 c 1, aserving robot 100 c, a cart robot 100 c 3, and a cleaning robot 100 d.

Meanwhile, the robots 100 may transmit state information, operationinformation, and data acquired during the operation thereof to theserver 10. For example, the robots 100 may communicate with the server10 in order to transmit and receive various kinds of information.

For example, when the state of the robots 100 is changed, the robots 100may inform the server 10 of a change in the state thereof. In addition,the robots 100 may periodically inform the server of the current statethereof.

In addition, the robots 100 may transmit information about tasks thathave been performed thereby to the server 10.

In addition, the robots 100 may transmit image data acquired through theimage acquisition unit 120 during the operation thereof, sensing dataacquired through the sensor unit 170, and collection data such as mapinformation generated during traveling thereof to the server 10.

In addition, the robots 100 may receive user input requesting apredetermined service, and may transmit data related to the user inputto the server 10.

Meanwhile, the server 10 may control the robots 100, and may monitor thestate of the robots 100 and the process in which the robots areperforming tasks.

In addition, the server 10 may provide various kinds of data related tothe performance of tasks to the robots 100, and may update data andsetting information stored in the robots 100.

Meanwhile, as described with reference to FIGS. 2a and 2b , the server10 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include acontrol server 11 that communicates with the robots 100 and monitors andcontrols the state of the robots 100. In this case, the robots 100 maycommunicate with the control server 11 in order to transmit and receivevarious kinds of information.

Meanwhile, the server 10 may transmit and receive information to andfrom the linkage server 15, such as a server of a service provider whoprovides a service using products and robots, e.g. an airport, a hotel,or a mart, or a server of a content provider who provides weather, mapdata, music, or movies.

In this case, the server 10 may receive environment information of aplace at which a service is provided, such as an airport, a hotel, or amart, from the linkage server 15, and may transmit information necessaryto perform tasks to the robots 100.

In addition, the server 10 may receive content data, such as weather,map data, music, or movies, from the linkage server 15, and may transmitthe received content data to predetermined ones of the robots 100 forupdate.

Depending on circumstances, the map data may be received from a serverof a service provider or from a server of a special map company. Inaddition, the server 10 may receive map data (e.g. SLAM map data)generated by the robots 100 during traveling thereof from the robots 100separately from map data received from the linkage server 15. In thiscase, the server 10 may collect the map data transmitted by the robots100 to generate more accurate map data, and may update the map data ofthe robots 100.

Meanwhile, the server 10 may provide a user interface related to therobots to the client 40, and may control the robots 100 according touser input through the client 40.

The server 10 may include a control server 11 that administrates andcontrols the robots while communicating with the client 40 through a webbrowser 41 or an application 42 of a mobile terminal.

In some embodiments, the server 10 may further include a deviceadministration server 12 that relays and administrates data related tothe robots 100.

Meanwhile, the control server 11 may include a control/service server 11a that provides a control service capable of monitoring the state andlocation of the robots 100 and administrating content and task schedulesbased on user input received from the client 40 and an administratorapplication server 11 b that a control administrator is capable ofaccessing through the web browser 41.

The control/service server 11 a may include a database, and may respondto a service request from the client 40, such as robot administration,control, firmware over the air (FOTA) upgrade, and location inquiry.

The control administrator may access the administrator applicationserver 11 b under the authority of the administrator, and theadministrator application server may administrate functions related tothe robot, applications, and content.

The server 10 may provide robot control, content administration,schedule administration, and data collection/analysis functions to theclient 40. In addition, the server 10 may provide an interface capableof using these functions to the client 40.

For example, the robot control function may include robot deviceadministration functions, such as robot device profile administrationand firmware administration, robot monitoring functions, such asconfirmation of the state of all robots, e.g. an operation mode and anerror, and confirmation of the current location and state of each robot,and robot control functions, such as robot power off, rebooting, andposition movement.

For example, the content administration may support a function forreflecting information related to an image, text, and a map appropriatefor the situation of a B2B customer in the robots in a timely manner,and may upload and apply resources (text, images, video, etc.) necessaryfor a robot device application in the form of a file so as to besuitable for a system environment.

For example, the schedule administration function may set andadministrate tasks of the robots, and may support robot-based andtime-zone-based task administration.

The data collection/analysis function may collect and statisticallyprocess robot (device) data. For example, the data collection/analysisfunction may collect and statistically process state data, such as anerror, an operation mode, an operation time, and a traveling distance,and service data, such as the number of provisions of each service andthe provision time of each service.

Depending on circumstances, the server 10 may share the collectedinformation, the analyzed information, and the statistically processedinformation with the linkage server 15.

Meanwhile, the server 10 may provide an integrated user interfaceincluding information about the different kinds of robots to the client40.

Here, the integrated user interface may include entire robot statusinformation and robot-kind-based state information classified dependingon the kind of robots. In this case, robot-kind-based state informationmay include a robot kind title item, a current state title item, androbot number information corresponding to the current state title item,and the current state title item and the robot number information may bedisplayed in different colors depending on the state thereof.

Consequently, it is possible to intuitively check the state of robots.

In addition, the integrated user interface may further include locationstatus information, in which the current locations of robots aredisplayed on a map, and individual robot state information.

Meanwhile, the server 10 may provide entire statistical data based ondata gathered from all robots, kind-based statistical data based on datagathered from the same kind of robots, and individual statistical databased on data received from individual robots.

In addition, the server 10 may provide function- or service-basedstatistical data based on data gathered from robots capable ofperforming predetermined functions or services.

Conventionally, individual robots are controlled separately. Inaddition, even in the case in which a robot control system for aplurality of robots is constructed, a dedicated control system isconstructed depending on a specific kind of robot.

In the case in which different kinds of robots are used, therefore, aplurality of robot control systems is used, whereby it is not possibleto efficiently administrate different kinds of robots having differentfeatures, functions, and performances. As a result, it is not possibleto combine different kinds of robots in order to provide the optimumservice.

However, the server 10 according to the present invention may provide anintegrated user interface including information about the differentkinds of robots to the client 40, whereby it is possible to administrateand control two or more kinds of robots using a single control systemand a single user interface.

Consequently, it is possible to provide various kinds of services usinga plurality of robots, thereby improving use convenience, and toefficiently provide the optimum service using different kinds of robots.

In addition, it is possible to realize a low-cost, high-efficiencycooperation system between robots capable of minimizing the interventionof an administrator, and it is possible to select a combination suitablefor the place at which a service is provided and the kind of the servicein order to provide the service using a minimum number of robots.

Conventionally, a storage medium, such as a USB memory, may be connectedto each robot in order to input or update data. As a result, contentnecessary to the robot, such as new customers, a language at the time ofgeneration of information, a log, a map, and a picture frame, ismanually loaded, which is inefficient.

However, the server 10 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention and the robot system 1 including the same may convenientlyupdate data related to a plurality of robots.

Upon receiving data from the linked external server 15, the server 10may update data of robots related to the received data, among theplurality of robots, in a bundle.

For example, upon receiving map data and data based on geographicalinformation from the external server 15, the server 10 may update mapdata of the mobile robots, such as the guide robot 100 a, the deliveryrobot 100 c, and the cleaning robot 100 d.

In some embodiments, the server 10 may further include a map server 14that provides map data and data based on geographical information.

In addition, the server 10 may automatically receive data from thelinked external server 15 in a predetermined cycle, and may update dataof the robots related to the received data in a bundle.

For example, even though a user does not separately perform updateinput, the server 10 may automatically communicate with the linkedexternal server 15 in a predetermined cycle, for example, every day,every week, or every month, in order to determine whether there are datato be updated, and upon determining that there are data to be updated,may receive the data to be updated in order to update the data of therobots 100.

As described with reference to FIG. 2b , the server 10 according to thepresent invention may include common units 4 a and 4 b includingfunctions and services that are commonly applied to the robots 100 and adedicated unit 4 c including specialized functions related to at leastsome of the robots 100 so as to be modularized.

According to the present invention, the common functions of the commonunits 4 a and 4 b of the platform may be utilized when new projects ofvarious domains are generated, whereby it is possible to reduce adevelopment period and to deal with the projects based on content andschedule administration through the server 10 in a timely manner.

In this case, the server 10 may apply data uploaded in the common units4 a and 4 b to all of the robots 100, and may apply data uploaded in thededicated unit 4 c to robots corresponding to the dedicated unit 4 c inwhich the data are uploaded. In this case, a plurality of dedicatedunits 4 c may be provided so as to correspond to the kind of robots.

FIGS. 9 to 15 are reference views illustrating user interface screens ofthe robot system according to the embodiment of the present invention,wherein the user interface screens are provided from the server to theclient and are displayed on a display means of the client.

Referring to FIG. 9, a user interface screen 800 may include a menu area801, in which upper-level menu items 810 and 890 are disposed, and aninformation area 805, in which a screen corresponding to a selected oneof the upper-level menu items is displayed. The user interface screen800 may be web based.

FIG. 9 exemplarily shows the case in which the information area 805 isdisposed at the right side of the menu area 801. However, the presentinvention is not limited thereto. For example, the menu area 801 may bedisposed at the upper side, and the information area 805 may be disposedat the lower side.

Meanwhile, the server 10 according to the present invention and therobot system 1 including the same may provide a complete solutionranging from an application programming interface (API) to a web frontas well as the robots 100.

A web front screen used by a user may be called “ROBOT ADMIN.” The mainfeatures of ROBOT ADMIN are remote robot control, resourceadministration, robot task schedule administration, and robot dataadministration. The upper-level menu items 810 and 890 for these may bedisposed in the menu area 801.

For example, authority information item 810 of a user accessing theROBOT ADMIN web user interface screen 800, a dashboard item 820 capableof checking state information of the robots, a robot deviceadministration item 830 that administrates a robot device profile, aresource (test, images, video, etc.) administration item 840 necessaryfor a robot device application, a schedule item 850 that sets and checkstask schedules of the robots, a data administration item 860 capable ofadministrating task performance data of the robots and various kinds ofdata acquired by the robots, a notification item 870 capable of checkingvarious kinds of notification information, and a setting item 880capable of inputting and checking various settings may be included.

FIG. 9 exemplarily shows the case in which the dashboard item 820 isselected and a dashboard screen 900 is displayed in the information area805.

The dashboard screen 900, which is a kind of home screen, may be adefault screen display at the time of user access. In some embodiments,a predetermined screen, such as a welcome screen or an officialannouncement screen, may be displayed before a main screen including theupper-level menu items 810 and 890 is provided.

The dashboard screen 900 may dispose various kinds of information aboutrobots in a single screen in order to provide basic informationnecessary for a user. Consequently, it is possible to minimize themanipulation of a user, such as an administrator for monitoringinformation about the robots.

More preferably, the dashboard screen 900 is an integrated userinterface including information about different kinds of robots. Forexample, the dashboard screen 900 may include information about two ormore kinds of robots.

Referring to FIG. 9, the dashboard screen 900 may include entire robotstatus information 910 and robot-kind-based state information 930 and940 classified depending on the kind of robots.

The entire robot status information 910 may include information aboutthe total number of robots 911 and kind-based robot number information921 and 922. FIG. 9 exemplarily shows the case in which the robot systemincludes two kinds of robots, such as a guide robot 100 a and a cleaningrobot 100 d. The kind-based robot number information 921 and 922 mayinclude information about the number of guide robots 921 and informationabout the number of cleaning robots 922.

Meanwhile, the robot-kind-based state information 930 and 940 mayinclude robot kind title items 931 and 941, current state title items932 a, 932 b, 932 c, 942 a, and 942 b, and robot number information 933a, 933 b, 933 c, 943 a, and 943 b corresponding to the current statetitle items.

For example, one robot (933 a) that cannot travel (932 a), one robot(933 b) that is capturing an image (932 b), and two robots (933 c) thatare guiding (932 c) are shown under the guide robot title item 931,whereby it is possible to check the state information of the guiderobots 100 a included in the robot system 1 through the guide robotstate information 930.

In addition, one robot (943 a) that cannot travel (942 a) and threerobots (943 b) that are cleaning (942 b) are shown under the cleaningrobot title item 932, whereby it is possible to check the stateinformation of the cleaning robots 100 d included in the robot system 1through the cleaning robot state information 940.

Meanwhile, the current state title items 932 a, 932 b, 932 c, 942 a, and942 b, and the robot number information 933 a, 933 b, 933 c, 943 a, and943 b may be displayed in different colors depending on the statethereof.

Alternatively, the title item and number information corresponding to atleast one state and the title item and number information correspondingto another state may be displayed in different colors.

For example, the non-travelable state title items 932 a and 942 a andthe number information 933 a and 943 a may be displayed in red.

Consequently, a user may intuitively check the state of robots.

In addition, the dashboard screen 900 may further include locationstatus information 950, in which the current locations of robots aredisplayed on a map, and individual robot state information 960.

The individual robot state information 960 may include robot-based items961, 962, 963, and 964 including text and/or a graphical objectindicating identification information and state information of eachrobot.

The individual robot state information 960 may be disposed at thelowermost end of the dashboard screen 900. The entirety of theindividual robot state information 960 may not be included in a singlescreen depending on the number of robots used in the robot system 1. Inthis case, a user may scroll the dashboard screen 900 downwards in orderto check at least some of the individual robot state information 960.

FIG. 10 exemplarily shows the case in which the resource administrationitem 840 is selected and a content administration screen 1000 isdisplayed in the information area 805.

Referring to FIG. 10, the resource administration item 840 may include acommon unit item 841 that administrates content data related to commonfunctions and services of the robots, a function application item 842that administrates each function application of the robots, and a changehistory item 843 capable of checking a resource change history.

A user may select the common unit item 841, and may add, delete, orchange elements that are commonly reflected in the robots.

For example, common elements corresponding to a robot language item1010, a map 1 item 1020, and a map 2 item 1030 included in the commonunit item 841 may be updated in a bundle. At least some pieces ofinformation of the map 1 item 1020 and the map 2 item 1030 maycorrespond to other map data.

For example, some pieces of information included in the map 1 item 1020and the map 2 item 1030 may be different from each other, and mapgeneration subjects may be different from each other.

Depending on circumstances, the map 2 item 1030 may include map data andgeographical information received from the linkage server 15.

Here, the linkage server 15 may be a server of a special map/point ofinterest (POI) third party. The server 10 according to the embodiment ofthe present invention may periodically acquire a map file throughlinkage between a special map measurement solution company and anAPI-based cloud. In particular, the map and POI information uploaded inthe robot control server 11 may be reflected in a bundle.

Consequently, it is not necessary for the administrator to individuallyedit the map and the POI.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible toprovide extensibility through linkage between another solution, such asa map measurement solution or position-based advertising, and a cloud.For example, it is possible to provide extensibility using an externalservice through server-to-server linkage between the server 10 and aserver 15 of a special map measurement solution company.

Conventionally, when the map/POI is changed, the administrator performsediting one by one. In the embodiment of the present invention, however,it is possible to flexibly deal with the request of a customer companythrough linkage with map/POI information using a special solution suchthat it is not necessary for the administrator to directly edit the mapor the POI.

In addition, the server 10 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention may provide a customized service to a customer company throughlinkage with a third party solution that provides another contentservice in addition to a map.

Referring to FIG. 10, the user may select the language item 1010, andmay check a language-related change particular 1040. In addition, theuser may select a lower-level menu 1050, and may perform update byadding, deleting, or changing language-related data of all robots in abundle.

FIG. 11 shows an example in which a guide screen of the guide robot 100a is changed in the case in which the use language is changed fromKorean to English.

Referring to FIG. 11, the guide robot 100 a, which displays a guidescreen 1110 in Korean, may display a guide screen 1120 in Englishaccording to a change in the use language of all robots. Subsequently,all robots, including the guide robot 100 a, may display the guidescreen in English until the use language is changed.

FIG. 12 exemplarily shows the case in which the function applicationitem 842 is selected and an application administration screen 1200 isdisplayed in the information area 805.

When the function application item 842 is selected, the applicationadministration screen 1200, including a category tab menu 1210corresponding to each function application of the robots, may bedisplayed.

The category tab menu 1210 may include items corresponding to respectivefunction applications, such as location guide/escort, signage, a robotphotographer, taking a picture together, and an event.

FIG. 12 exemplarily shows the case in which the signage item isselected. The signage item is a menu item capable of administratingresources of a signage application driven in a robot by uploading ordeleting a file.

Meanwhile, the signage application is an application in which the guiderobot 100 a displays an image or video on a large-sized display. A usermay select the signage item, and may check a signage-application-relatedchange particular 1220. In addition, the user may select a lower-levelmenu 1230, and may perform update by adding, deleting, or changing theimage and video data of the signage application in a bundle.

The content updated in the signage application, such as the image andvideo data, may be applied to the robots 100, such as the guide robot100 a, so as to be reproduced all the time or under a specificcondition.

In addition, the signage application may be linked with an advertisingsolution company in order to provide high-level advertising serviceincluding an additional service, such as advertising content generationor advertising effect measurement.

Meanwhile, the menu items included in the integrated user interface andthe detailed screens corresponding to the respective menu items may bevariously changed.

For example, the resource administration item 840 exemplarily shown inFIG. 10 may include a common unit item 841, a function application item842, and a change history item 843, and the resource administration item840 exemplarily shown in FIG. 12 may include a common unit item 841, afunction application item 842, a change history item 843, and a mapadministration item 844 capable of administrating map data.

FIG. 13 exemplarily shows the case in which the schedule item 850 isselected and a schedule administration screen 1300 is displayed in theinformation area 805, and FIG. 14 exemplarily shows the scheduleadministration screen that is being edited.

Referring to FIG. 13, the schedule administration screen 1300 mayinclude a schedule status item 1310, in which robot-based schedules aredisposed on a calendar and/or a timeline, and a details item 1320, inwhich the details of one selected from among the schedules.

In the schedule status item 1310, a time at which a task is assigned inthe timeline assigned to each robot may be expressed as a graph, and, inthe schedule status item 1310, tasks assigned to each robot may bedisplayed in different colors depending on the kind of the tasks.Consequently, the administrator may intuitively check the schedule ofthe robot.

In addition, the administrator may perform robot-based andtime-zone-based task administration using the schedule administrationscreen 1300.

Referring to FIG. 14, the administrator may select a section of 14:00 to15:00 on the timeline of a specific robot in a schedule status item1310. As a result, a details setting screen 1420 may be displayed in atleast a portion of a display screen of the client 40, and it is possibleto input an operation mode at the time zone and setting of repetition.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the server 10 mayprovide entire statistical data based on data gathered from all robots,kind-based statistical data based on data gathered from the same kind ofrobots, and individual statistical data based on data received fromindividual robots.

In addition, the server 10 may provide function- or service-basedstatistical data based on data gathered from robots capable ofperforming predetermined functions or services.

FIG. 15 exemplarily shows a data administration screen 1500 in which thedata administration item 860 is selected and displayed.

The user may select tab menus 1510 and 1515 of the data administrationscreen 1500 in order to check various kinds of data.

For example, the user may select the entire tab menu item 1510 in orderto check the year-, month-, week-, day-, and time-zone-based average logvalues of all robots and statistical data.

In addition, the user may select the robot-based tab menu item 1510 inorder to check the average log value of the specific kinds of robots orthe log value of an individual robot and statistical data.

Referring to FIG. 15, in the case in which the entire tab menu item 1510is selected, service start date information 1530, robot registrationdeletion summary information 1540, mode-based execution time information1550, and service-based execution time information 1560, which arestatistically processed based on all robots, may be displayed in theuser interface screen.

In some embodiments, the data administration screen 1500 may furtherinclude an inquiry period selection item 1520, and the inquiry periodselection item 1520 may be manipulated in order to set a period duringwhich statistical data will be provided.

The server 10 may provide a highly readable user interface for easyunderstanding of ordinary people. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, themode-based execution time information 1550 and the service-basedexecution time information 1560 may be provided as highly readablegraphs.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it ispossible to provide a data analysis report capable of creating addedvalue through the analysis of data collectable by the robots, such ascustomer profiles, occupation and separation points, and customerconcentration areas, in addition to the provision of a simple log levelstatistics function.

For example, the server 10 may compare a specific mode/service executiontime for all robots or each robot in order to check the differencebetween before and after.

The server 10 may provide a report such that the execution time for eachmode (operation, charging, standby) or each service (location guide,photographing, etc.), total traveling distance, and number of times thaterrors occur are inquired and compared for all robots or each robot.

In addition, the profile information of the customers that have used therobots or occupation and separation point data may be analyzed in orderto provide a premium report. For example, the server 10 may deriveimplication, such as preference, through profile analysis based on facerecognition of the customers that have accessed the robots and analysisof initial access and separation times of the customers.

In addition, it is possible to analyze congestion in a specific zone, tomeasure product advertising and guest reception effects through analysisof congestion at a specific point, to analyze a main customer basethrough customer profile analysis using robots, and to measureadvertising effects through analysis of initial access times, separationtimes, and times taken until separation is performed (which may belinked to another solution).

The server according to the present invention, the robot systemincluding the same, and the method of controlling the server and therobot system are not limitedly applied to the constructions and methodsof the embodiments as previously described; rather, all or some of theembodiments may be selectively combined to achieve variousmodifications.

Meanwhile, the method of controlling the server according to theembodiment of the present invention and the robot system including thesame may be implemented as code that can be written on aprocessor-readable recording medium and thus read by a processor. Theprocessor-readable recording medium may be any type of recording devicein which data is stored in a processor-readable manner. Theprocessor-readable recording medium may include, for example, read onlymemory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), compact disc read only memory(CD-ROM), magnetic tape, a floppy disk, and an optical data storagedevice, and may be implemented in the form of a carrier wave transmittedover the Internet. In addition, the processor-readable recording mediummay be distributed over a plurality of computer systems connected to anetwork such that processor-readable code is written thereto andexecuted therefrom in a decentralized manner.

It will be apparent that, although the preferred embodiments have beenshown and described above, the present invention is not limited to theabove-described specific embodiments, and various modifications andvariations can be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the gist of the appended claims. Thus, it is intended that themodifications and variations should not be understood independently ofthe technical spirit or prospect of the present invention.

1. A robot system comprising: a plurality of robots; and at least oneserver that communicates with the plurality of robots, and monitors andcontrols the plurality of robots, wherein the plurality of robotsinclude different kinds of robots that perform different functions orservices, and the at least one server further provides, to a client, aninterface that presents information about respective statuses of thedifferent kinds of robots.
 2. The robot system according to claim 1,wherein the at least one server is further to: receive data from anexternal device, and update one or more of the plurality of robots basedon the received data.
 3. The robot system according to claim 2, whereinthe server periodically receives the data from the external device andupdates the plurality of robots based on the periodically received data.4. The robot system according to claim 2, wherein the least one server,when updating the one or more of the plurality of robots based on thereceived data, is further to: identify a first portion of the receiveddata that is intended for all of the plurality of robots; identify asecond portion of the received data that is intended for a portion ofthe plurality of robots; upload the first portion to all of theplurality of robots; and upload the second portion only to the portionof the plurality of robots.
 5. The robot system according to claim 4,wherein the second portion includes a plurality of second portionscorresponding to the different kinds of robots, and wherein the at leastone server is further to upload the each of plurality of second portionsonly to a corresponding one of the different kinds of robots.
 6. Therobot system according to claim 1, wherein the least one serverincludes: a control server that communicates with the client to providethe user interface and communicates with the plurality of robots toadminister and control the plurality of robots.
 7. The robot systemaccording to claim 6, wherein the least one server further includes: adevice administration server that relays and administers data related tothe plurality of robots; and a map server that provides map data relatedto respective locations of the plurality of robots.
 8. The robot systemaccording to claim 6, wherein the control server includes: a controlservice server that monitors a state and a location of each of theplurality of robots, administers content distribution to the pluralityof robots, and administers task schedules to the plurality of robots,and an administrator application server that administers an applicationrelated to managing the plurality of robots.
 9. The robot systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the user interface includes a firstsection that provides status information regarding the plurality ofrobots and second sections that provide state information related tocorresponding ones of the different kinds of robots.
 10. The robotsystem according to claim 9, wherein one of the second sectionspresents: a robot kind title item identifying a corresponding one of thedifferent kinds of robots, a current state title items identifyingdifferent states for ones of the robots included in the correspondingkind of robots identified in the robot kind title item, and robot numberinformation identifying respective quantities of ones of the robotscorresponding to the current state title items, and wherein the currentstate title items and the robot number information are displayed indifferent colors depending on the correspond ones of the differentstates.
 11. The robot system according to claim 9, wherein the userinterface further includes a third section that presents location statusinformation in which current locations of one or more of the pluralityof robots are displayed on a map, and individual robot state informationis identified for each of the one or more of the plurality of robotsrepresented in the map.
 12. The robot system according to claim 1,wherein the least one server provides entire statistical data based ondata gathered from all robots, kind-based statistical data based on datagathered from corresponding ones of the different kinds of robots, andindividual statistical data based on data received from individualrobots.
 13. The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the least oneserver provides function-based or service-based statistical data basedon data gathered from ones of the plurality of robots capable ofperforming predetermined functions or services.
 14. A cloud servercomprising: a control server that: communicates with a plurality ofrobots, monitors and controls the plurality of robots, wherein theplurality of robots include different kinds of robots that performdifferent functions, and provides a user interface that providesinformation about the different kinds of robots to a client; and adevice administration server that relays and administers data related tothe plurality of robots with the control server.
 15. The cloud serveraccording to claim 14, wherein the control service is further: receivesdata from an external device, updates one or more of the robots amongthe plurality of robots, based on the received data.
 16. The cloudserver according to claim 15, wherein the control server, when updatingthe one or more of the plurality of robots based on the received data,is further to: identify a first portion of the received data that isintended for all of the plurality of robots; identify a second portionof the received data that is intended for a portion of the plurality ofrobots; upload the first portion to all of the plurality of robots; andupload the second portion only to the portion to the plurality ofrobots.
 17. The cloud server according to claim 16, wherein the secondportion of the received data includes a plurality of second portionscorresponding to two or more the different kinds of robots, and whereinthe control server is further to upload the each of plurality of secondportions only to the corresponding one of the different kinds of robots.18. The cloud server according to claim 14, further comprising: a mapserver for providing map data related to locations of the plurality ofrobots, wherein the user interface further provides informationregarding locations for a selected kind of robot.
 19. The cloud serveraccording to claim 14, wherein the control server includes: a controlservice server that communicates with the client to provide the userinterface and communicates with the plurality of robots to administerand control the plurality of robots, and an administrator applicationserver that administers an application related to managing the pluralityof robots.
 20. The cloud server according to claim 14, wherein the userinterface includes a first section that provides status informationregarding the plurality of robots and a second section that providesstate information related to one or more of the different kinds ofrobots.